Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will revisit some iconic levels from the series’ past, but it’s also modernizing several elements–including the skaters. In a new video, Steve Caballero–who first appeared in Pro Skater 2 back in 2000–has revealed that he mo-capped new facial expressions for his in-game character, who looks just like he does now.
In the video below, Caballero says that he now sees a lot of skaters doing the tricks from these games in real-life, and we get a look at the motion capture set-up that is being used to capture the current-day look of these characters. Although they did not capture Caballero on a skateboard–he says they wanted to get new facial expressions from him–the new in-game model looks a lot like him.
The video also shows Caballero skating through the first game’s Warehouse level–which confirms, essentially, that characters introduced in the sequel will be able to skate through levels from the first.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is looking like a serious hit of nostalgia, and it’ll even carry over most of the original game’s soundtrack. These are important games, as Caballero acknowledges–and if you want to make sure you can get in on the nostalgia on September 4 when the game launches, you should check out our preorder guide.
Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.
The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on one major Hollywood studio is coming into focus. Lionsgate, which produces the John Wick and Hunger Games films, has reported a $50.5 million charge during the January-March quarter due to the global pandemic and the “related economic disruption.”
The charge is made up of losses due to the costs of stopping the production of Lionsgate’s numerous movie and TV productions, among other things.
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement, “Our Lionsgate family has risen to the challenge of these unprecedented times with resilience, dedication, and collaboration.”
Looking to the future, Feltheimer said Lionsgate continues to work closely with its development partners to plan restarting production and releasing movies in theatres again.
“The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and measures to prevent its spread, and the resulting unprecedented economic uncertainty, are affecting our business in a number of ways,” Lionsgate said in its news release. “The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict.”
At the same time, Lionsgate mentioned that its Starz network enjoyed an increase in viewership “across all platforms” in the US and globally due to the fact that people are staying home. Lionsgate cautioned, however, that the spike in viewers might slow down in the future when governments change their rules about social-distancing.
Lionsgate mentioned that it adapted to the crisis by releasing some of its theatrical films on streaming platforms, working on post-production remotely, and continuing to developer shows with virtual writers’ rooms. “These changes in the way we operate may be helpful to partially offset some of the negative impacts from the pandemic. However, the impact of these changes and the COVID-19 global pandemic are uncertain and cannot be predicted,” Lionsgate said.
In regards to the $50.5 million charge, this includes $46 million from impairments related to the aforementioned issues and $4.2 million in marketing and distribution expenses related to movies and events that were canceled or postponed. The remaining $300,000 includes “restructuring and other costs” related to the transition to a work-from-home environment for its employees.
Some of the movies that Lionsgate delayed due to the pandemic include the Saw spin-off Spiral, from Chris Rock, and the mystery-thriller Antebellum starring Janelle Monae.
Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a new online tournament kicking off on May 30, and players will be competing to win free games and DLC. The North American tournament, which is now open for registration, will run each weekend until June 21. Competition will play out across eight regions, and each week one winner from between two regions will be crowned and given a prize.
The top four players across the tournament will win download codes for Splatoon 2, Arms, and the second Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass, with one winner being picked each weekend. It’s not quite as grand as a traditional esports tournament prize, but it’s better than nothing.
The tournament will feature best-of-3 sets matches with items turned off. You can register now, but you must be a citizen of North America, Canada, or Mexico to enter. Registration will close on May 30 at 8AM PDT.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a sales juggernaut, but it is not known for having strong network infrastructure–in fact, it was removed from the EVO 2020 line-up after the fighting game tournament moved online.
Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.
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During this time of great uncertainty and stress, The Office star John Krasinski launched a YouTube series called “Some Good News,” which aimed to shine a light on the good in the world. Now, Krasinski has sold the show and he’s stepping away from hosting it.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Krasinski has sold Some Good News to GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS. There was said to be a “massive bidding war” to buy the show.
New episodes of Some Good News will premiere on CBS All Access (which is being rebranded this year), and then come to other ViacomCBS platforms later on. Krasinski is leaving his post as host, but he will remain onboard as an executive producer and he will make occasional appearances.
“Could not be more excited and proud to be partnering with CBS/Viacom to be able to bring Some Good News to so many more people!” Krasinski said in a statement. “From the first episode, our goal was to create a news show dedicated entirely to good news. Never did I expect to be joining the ranks of such a historic news organization as CBS.”
Up until now, Krasinski has been funding Some Good News out of his own pocket, though he has worked with corporate sponsors as well. For example, Krasinski–who hails from Boston, Massachusetts–partnered with the Boston Red Sox to give away baseball tickets.
According to THR, Krasinski did not always intend to sell Some Good News, though the report does not say why he changed his mind. The eighth episode of Some Good News aired on May 17, and in it, Krasinski alluded to the sale, saying he was planning to take a break.
Some Good News featured some incredibly heartwarming and special episodes, including a mini Office reunion with Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer and a Hamilton performance featuring the original cast.
You can also check out GameSpot’s feel-good news show, Good News Gaming. You can watch the latest episode embedded above, and keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.
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Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, Tenet, has received a new trailer that debuted first in the battle royale game Fortnite (to a torrent of plungers aimed at the virtual screen, unsurprisingly) and is now available everywhere online. Take a look.
The trailer sets up a currently nameless protagonist, played by John David Washington, who can apparently “invert” time (thus the stylized title “TENET” flipped upside down). We don’t exactly get to see how or to what extent he can do this–or if he’s alone in these powers, but there are some critical clues to be found. Namely, we get to see him fire a gun in reverse (“you’re not shooting the bullets, you’re catching them”) and, later, a car crash happening and then un-happening. Basically, it’s exactly what you might expect from a Nolan movie at this point.
Also in the trailer are regular Nolan collaborator Michael Caine, who probably (emphasis on probably) isn’t going to be a dimension-hopping Alfred Pennyworth, but the jury’s still out on that one. Robert Pattinson, who seems to be playing some sort of James Bond Q archetype (or maybe a dimension-hopping Bruce Wayne just to really mess with your grip on reality), also features. He ends the trailer on a comedic note explaining that he’d really like to crash a plane.
Interestingly, the trailer is not dated–though the “coming to theaters” title card seems to want to assure viewers that this movie will definitely herald some sort of return-to-normalcy for moviegoers. As of right now, no delays have been announced, which means Tenet is still scheduled to arrive on July 17, 2020. Theaters in Hong Kong have seemingly committed to this date by airing Nolan’s Batman trilogy as they begin cautiously reopening, but thus far with reopening plans still completely uncertain in other parts of the world, it’s probably a good idea not to count too many chickens before they hatch. Or un-hatch. Or hatch in reverse. Whatever the case may be.
Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming, TV, and movie worlds.
And speaking of things you should be watching, consider listening to GameSpot’s weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.
Fortnite has held another live event that required players put their guns down and watch a video together. This time around it’s just a simple trailer premiere–one for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, Tenet.
In the video above, David Ahmadi captures the new trailer, so if you happen to have missed the live premiere–either because you don’t have Fortnite or you forgot to log-in or you just couldn’t be bothered–then you can watch it here.
In GameSpot’s Fortnite review, Michael Higham wrote: “While there are several moving parts in the game’s ecosystem, Fortnite’s biggest accomplishment is in how it seamlessly merges a number of simple mechanics to create a distinguishable battle royale game. What looks to be a straightforward building system steadily escalates to an elaborate display of tactical prowess. As the saying goes: It’s easy to learn, hard to master. Although a few shortcomings in the map design eventually surface and fatigue in looting can set in, Fortnite rarely fails at challenging you in unexpected ways, resulting in something more than just another typical last-person-standing shooter.”
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a gigantic success, and it keeps on surprising and impressing us. In a new GameSpot video, Persia tours even more Animal Crossing islands to show you what people are creating with the Nintendo Switch game.
The video spotlights the islands created by Outerloop Games studio head Eka’s island, “Pork Belly,” and artist Elise’s island, which is called “Valinor.” In the videos, Eka and Elise speak to Persia about the inspiration behind their creations and share a number of interesting insights.
Be sure to watch through the full videos to see everything there is to see–it’s impressive to see how unique and creative people can be with their creations.
Keep checking back with GameSpot for lots more on Animal Crossing!
The latest trailer for The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s mysterious new movie Tenet premiered in Fortnite, but that’s not the extent of the director’s partnership with the battle royale game.
During the in-game event, games media host Geoff Keighley revealed that Fortnite will host one of Nolan’s “iconic” movies in the game. “We will be screening an iconic Christopher Nolan full-length feature film right here on the big screen. Stay tuned for more details,” he said.
Nolan has directed a number of films that could be described as “iconic,” including The Dark Knight and Inception. He also directed Memento, The Prestige, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and my personal favorite, Insomnia. The smart money is probably on The Dark Knight or Inception.
Whatever movie is chosen, it will come to Fortnite sometime this summer.
Epic’s Donald Mustard said the idea for releasing the Tenet trailer in Fortnite stemmed from a discussion that the developer had with the director. “We were all talking about our love of seeing new trailers in a theater and how sad we were that we can’t do that right now–but how many this could be the next best thing,” Mustard said.
Warner Bros. released the new Tenet trailer on YouTube and elsewhere minutes after it premiered in Fortnite.
The idea of debuting the TENET trailer came from a phone call with Christopher Nolan. We were all talking about our love of seeing new trailers in a THEATER and how sad we were that we can’t do that right now – but how maybe this could be the next best thing. Hope you love it!
Tenet is scheduled to premiere in theatres on July 17, despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The new trailer does not feature the release date, but the description of the YouTube video does.
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Grand Theft Auto V has outlined the next week of bonuses and discounts for GTA Online, and players will be able to nab a cool GTA$1.7 million thanks to this week’s update–although a million of that is reserved for players who stay on top of their Daily Objectives.
First up, players who have not logged in for May yet will automatically get GTA$500,000 when they jump in. If you grabbed the game while it was free on the Epic Games Store but haven’t played yet, now’s the time. Another GTA$200,000 will be given to any players who have connected a Twitch Prime account to their Rockstar Social Club account–it might take a few days to appear, though.
Daily Objectives are unlocked at Rank 15, and you’re given three a day. To earn the other GTA$1 million, you’ll need to complete ten of them over the next week. You have until May 27, so if you want that $1 million you’d better start today if you want that cash.
Meanwhile, Hunting Pack is this week’s triple-reward mode, giving players 3x GTA$ and RP if they win. Freemode events are also offering up triple rewards this week, while Mobile Operations Rewards and Stockpile dogfights will give you double the usual payout.
Also available this week is the Blue Jock Cranley Jumpsuit, so you can suit up like a true daredevil. The Bravado Half-Track is this week’s Lucky Wheel car, if you’ve been looking for something beefy to hoon around in.
In other freebies and discounts, you can get a Firework Launcher and ammo for free this week, and free Mobile Operation Center liveries, including Stars & Stripes, Eagle Claw, Eagle Claw Flag, Fighting Freedom. Hangers are 50% off, as are modifications and add-ons for them.
Finally, here’s a list of vehicle discounts for this week.
Truffade Thrax: 40% off
Declasse Scramjet: 40% off
TM-02 Khanjali: 40% off
All Yachts: 40% off
BF Ramp Buggy: 50% off
Mammoth Patriot Stretch: 50% off
Buckingham Akula: 50% off
Volatol: 50% off
Mammoth Tula: 80% off (Twitch Prime only)
Grotti Furia: 60% off (Twitch Prime only)
Take-Two, the parent company that owns Grand Theft Auto, has a whopping 93 games in development at the moment–but it won’t confirm if any of them is a new GTA. V continues to do very well, and has now sold over 130 million copies.
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The first entry in the Bad Boys franchise went for big booms on a limited budget.
Twenty-five years ago, Bad Boys, starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Tea Leoni, was released in theaters. It was director Michael Bay’s first feature film; up until then, he was known only for directing commercials.
These days, Bay has the carte blanche and studio budget befitting his high-concept action movies; no one’s going to question his decision to have a bigger explosion or a long car chase (just look at his most recent film, Netflix’s 6 Underground). But back in 1995, Bay was given a short leash: $17 million and a production schedule so tight that if Bay didn’t finish a scene by the end of a shooting day, he could either leave the scene in the movie as is, or dump it on the cutting room floor.
Here are 22 Easter Eggs and trivia facts about Bad Boys, most of which were pulled from the Blu-ray commentary by director Michael Bay. Love him or hate him, he put his passion into this movie, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
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1. Meet Mike And Marcus
Originally, Disney was set to produce the movie with SNL alums Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey in the lead roles. But after Disney passed on the movie, Columbia Pictures took over and cast Will Smith and Martin Lawrence instead. Director Michael Bay specifically pushed for Smith to be in the movie; he saw potential in Smith to be a major Hollywood star (prior to Bad Boys, Smith was best known for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air).
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2. “It’s gonna be bitching!”
Bay discussed the pushback he received from his own crew. As a first-time feature director, Bay was told by many people what he could and couldn’t do on a film set; take, for example, the shot of the Miami sign at the airport, near the beginning of the movie. The sign doesn’t actually exist; it’s a three-foot miniature that Bay filmed with a low-angle shot directly underneath the planes that were taking off and landing. Was it dangerous? Definitely. But Bay justified it to everyone on set by exclaiming, “It’s gonna be bitching!”
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3. MY PRSHE
After a test screening of the film’s first cut, Bay went back and added four scenes during reshoots, most notably this attempted carjacking of Mike and Marcus, which opened the film. The Porsche that they’re driving is Bay’s personal car.
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4. Mother Knows Best
There are 12 F-Bombs in the opening carjacking scene. There were originally 18, but after Bay showed an early cut of the film to his mother, she convinced him to take the language down a notch.
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5. Heist On The Cheap
Bay has a fast-paced editing style in all his action movies. But in Bad Boys, the editing was rapid for practical reasons as well: to hide how cheaps the sets were. Bay singled out the heroin heist at the beginning as an example; notice how the entire scene also takes place in the dark, which allows for additional camouflage.
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6. Car Stunt
The car stunt, in which the police decoy was shot out the back of the criminals’ truck, was accomplished with practical effects. A stuntman took the fall while the truck was going at 25-30 miles per hour. He only had a plank of plywood to cushion his fall before landing on the concrete.
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7. Getting An Earful
Bay notes that they cast for Marcus’s son based on his ears; actor Martin Lawrence has notably large ears, which he frequently goofed on in his sitcom “Martin,” which ran from 1992-1997.
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8. Deleted Twins
We’re reintroduced to Marcus in his home, where he’s having breakfast with his family. There is a deleted, juxtaposing scene where Mike wakes up with twins in his bed.
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9. Shadow Boxing
The gym scene was originally going to feature Mike and his informant front and center. But Martin Lawrence, who was only supposed to be doing background stuff, was improvising so well that his character became the focal point of the scene.
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10. A Familiar Corpse
The corpse is the movie’s line producer, who Bay frequently argued with on set. “He looks better like this than he did as a line producer,” Bay cracked on the commentary.
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11. B****
In the car ride after seeing the corpse, Will Smith calls Martin Lawrence a b****, which Lawrence didn’t like; he told Bay that he wanted to punch Smith. So Bay secretly prodded Smith to do it more. This led to the improvisation near the end of the scene, where they start talking about “two b****es in the sea” and singing “Bad Boys” by Inner Circle.
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12. Gay Panic
The entire scene where Tea Leoni’s character questions if Marcus is gay was ad-libbed. Again, Bay instructed Tea to spring the question on Lawrence to elicit a real reaction, since he knew the question would be one of Lawrence’s “triggers.”
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13. Bologna Improv And More
The entire bologna dialogue between Julie and Marcus was also improvised, as was the phone conversation the following morning, when Smith teased Lawrence by pretending to flirt with his wife. Writing and rewriting the dialogue was a common occurrence on set; Bay recalls sitting in his trailer with Smith and Lawrence, making things up on the day they were set to shoot a scene. Bay took special note of Tea’s ability to improvise with her comedian co-stars on set.
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14. Skater Trick
Part of working on a budget is the ability to improvise. This particular shot was accomplished by attaching a camera to a skateboard, and pushing it between the women’s legs.
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15. Animal Lover
During the club scene where Marcus breaks the fish tank, Bay recalled being very concerned about the fish. An animal lover, Bay had his crew on standby, ready to save the fish as soon as the scene cut.
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16. Urine Recipe
During the scene where Marcus sticks the goon’s head in the urinal, Bay used Gatorade and Coca-Cola instead of urine.
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17. Safety First
If you look closely, you can see that there are cables anchoring down the car’s parts when it explodes. It’s a safety precaution for the set crew; Bay lamented that he didn’t have the budget to edit out the cables for the final cut of the film
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18. Funny Candy
Bay, Lawrence, and Smith spent time brainstorming funny-sounding candies for the convenience store scene. Smith insisted they go with “Bubblelicious.”
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19. The Movie Star Moment
Both Will Smith and Michael Bay cite this scene, of Mike running through the streets with his shirt open, as Smith’s movie star-making moment.
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20. Out-Of-Pocket Explosion
For the final fight scene, Bay didn’t have the money to film one of his signature massive explosions–the one which launched the goon mid-air and set all the money on fire. After threatening to quit when the studio pushed back, Bay paid for the explosion out of his own pocket; he also paid the crew overtime to get it on film. It cost Bay $25,000, which the studio reimbursed after the movie made a profit.
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21. Wrecked Cobra
The reason why this shot is so tight is because the Shelby Cobra was damaged during the prior scene, when it was launched out of the back of the truck. Bay used a close-up to hide the damage, until he could get a new Cobra to film the final chase.
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22. I Love You!
Will Smith was hesitant to say “I love you” to Martin Lawrence in the final scene. Bay spent 90 minutes trying to talk Smith into it, and he eventually threw up his hands and told Smith to do whatever he wanted, because the sun was setting in 15 minutes; if they waited any longer, they wouldn’t have an ending to the movie. Smith ended up saying the line, and not a moment too soon. The reason why there’s so little editing and so few angles in the final scene is because there wasn’t time to set up more takes. Mother Nature waits for no one–not even Michael Bay.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
